Wednesday, September 2, 2009

US Mint Coin Production August 2009

The US Mint has just updated their coin production figures to include the past month of August. This update includes the final production figures for the James K. Polk Dollar, which are somewhat surprising.

The table below lists the circulating coins produced by the United States Mint during the month of July 2009. These numbers are obtained by comparing the year to date totals available last month to the recently updated numbers.

US Mint Coin Production August 2009

Philadelphia

Denver

Total

Cents

145.2 M

141.6 M

286.8 M

Nickels

0

0

0

Dimes

0

0

0

Quarters

40.2 M

22.4 M

62.6 M

Halves

0

0

0

Presidential Dollars

2.24 M

0

2.24 M

Native Amer Dollars

0

0

0

Total

187.64 M

164.0 M

351.64 M

The additional following table shows the year to date coin production totals for each denomination. In the situations where one denomination has multiple designs, the production figure indicates the final numbers for that design.

2009 Coin Production January 2009 to August 2009

Philadelphia

Denver

Total

Birthplace Cent

284.40 M

350.40 M

634.80 M

Formative Yrs Cent

376.00 M

363.60 M

739.60 M

Jefferson Nickel

39.84 M

46.80 M

86.64 M

Roosevelt Dime

96.50 M

49.50 M

146.00 M

District of Columbia Quarter

83.60 M

88.80 M

172.40 M

Puerto Rico Quarter

53.20 M

86.00 M

139.20 M

Guam Quarter

45.00 M

42.60 M

87.60 M

Am Samoa Quarter

42.60 M

39.60 M

82.20 M

Kennedy Half Dollar

1.70 M

1.70 M

3.40 M

W.H. Harrison Dollar

43.26 M

55.16 M

98.42 M

John Tyler Dollar

43.54 M

43.54 M

87.08 M

James K. Polk Dollar

41.72 M

46.62 M

88.34 M

Native American Dollar

27.30 M

23.80 M

51.10 M

The overall number of coins produced by the US Mint rose compared to the previous month when 321.36 million coins had been produced. Production was once again concentrated in the one cent denomination. The next highest production took place for the quarter, followed by only 2.24 million Presidential Dollars produced. There was no production of nickels, dimes, halves, or Native American Dollars.

The James K. Polk Dollar was the only coin design to have new final production figures listed for this month. The Philadelphia Mint produced 41.72 million coins and the Denver Mint produced 46.62 million. While the Philadelphia Mint number does represent a new low for an individual coin, the combined mintage across both mints shows a slight increase from the prior design.

In general, coin production numbers seem to be leveling off and inching higher. Until now, a pattern was in place this year for each subsequent quarter and dollar design to have a lower mintage than the one before. This pattern is now broken for the Presidential Dollars, and this month's heavy quarter production suggests that the pattern might also be broken for quarters with the next release.

Yeah, I KNEW that would happen. I posted that idea on a previous thread. It just stood to reason. Whoever bought the Letitia medal/Julia card will most likely buy the Julia medal/Letitia card version to complement it.

My shipment of the Letitia sets did not have any Julia cards, as I'm sure my Julia sets will not have any Letitia cards. I'm just not lucky that way.

This is only peripherally related to this particular article but it is relevant to your blog.

I am trying to understand the Mint's variety of products for 2009coins. If I understand things correctly, one can buy the four Presidential coins for $14.95 and the six quarters for $14.95 for a total of $29.90. Alternatively, one could buy the full set of 2009 proof coins including the Presidential dollars, the six quarters, plus the four Lincoln cents and the nickel, dime, quarter, and Native American dollar for $29.95 for all 18 coins. That's just five cents more for all 18 coins as opposed to just 10 coins.

In addition, one could buy the four Lincoln cents for $7.95. Adding the four Lincoln cents to the quarters and dollars would mean an outlay of $37.85 for 14 coins as opposed to 18 coins for $29.95.

Why doesn't the Mint just offer the full proof sets and avoid all the confusion of multiple products? Why would people buy the individual products when they could get the whole set for less money or more coins for just five cents more than the partial sets? Am I missing something here?

Separately, the Mint shows a 2009 Proof set for $29.95 and a 2009 Silver Proof set for $52.95. In the past, it seems there were these two sets plus an Uncirculated Set for a lower price. Is there no Uncirculated set for 2009 or does that come out later?

I'm kind of new at this and just trying to understand the different product offerings. Thanks for your help and for writing a great blog. Keep up the good work.

The deal with the dollars,quarters and pennies is...the special series. In the distant past, the only proof set available was the complete one. When the mint started to do the series (state quarters, presidential dolaars and now lincoln bicent.) they made individual sets of these series available for those who were collecting just those series. So if you were just wanting the presidential dollars, why spend $30 when you can get only what you need for "just" $15. Second, yes, there is an uncirculated set scheduled for release later this year. If you go to the Mint's home page, click on the coins and medals bar, you will see a link for the product schedule. I hope this helps.

Referencing the 2009 US Mint Unc. Coin Set scheduled for FALL do you think that there will be a Burnished Silver Eagle included in the set as they have been? My guess is that with Silver once again on the march upward that that coin would be omitted or alternatively included but not sold as a solo as in the past. Just a guess!

Received my Fall Mint Gift Catalog today in the mail. Talk about anemic! While I really like the UHR Eagle and Lincoln coins this year, that's about it. No Eagles (gold, silver or platinum), no Buffalos, and not even dimes or nickels from Philadelphia or Denver. But what we do have is quarters from US Territories, Braille, and gold spouses.

Am I missing something or has the US Mint totally gone over the edge? JMHO.

OK, so now the 2009 Unc. Coin Set is officially set for release but we still see no mention of their plans for the release of the solo version of the '09 Burnished Silv. Eagles. Hmmmm this could get really interesting!

I must of missed something? I justpurchased a 2009-P/Jefferson/MS-65/6FS and was Certified by NGC Grading-Service? It really surprized me, because I thought,theRelease of 2009 Mint-State Coins wasn't until October 1st ? What Gives here?

The MS is a grade, it describes the conditionof the coin, not its origin. What yoiu bought was a buisness strike version of the coin that is in MS-65 condition. True, the mint set hasn't come out yet. The coins in those sets will be different, as they have a "satin" finish which makes them look duller. These will grade MS something due to the condition of the coin based on a stin finish. Hope this helps.

I am new to collecting so I do not understand why there is such a outrages markup on high mintage coins while nothing is being said about a coin like the Kennedy half dollar. With a total mintage of 3.4M wouldn't this be a good investment? They are still being sold at the mint but no one seems to buy or talk about them. What am I missing or is everyone else missing something?

I have been putting away a few rolls of the Kennedy Halves each year. I have always liked the series and the current low mintage coins may pay off down the line.

The slight problem is that even though the mintages are small, 100% of them are purchased by collectors who will likely retain them in original rolls in uncirculated condition. Other coins with higher mintages might be more heavily circulated, making stockpiles of uncirculated coins more difficult to find.

I think the current Kennedy Halves will do fine, maintaining their value and slowly moving up. They probably won't have any big excitement or quick gains.